Review: Birdie – Slaughter Beach, Dog.

Slaughter Beach, Dog (the solo project of Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball) releases his new record this week, Birdie through Big Scary Monsters and Lame-O Records. A project that existed to cure writer’s block,  I feel this is cured if the singles are anything to go by, you can listen to Fish Fry now through YouTube here.

A master of melodies, Ewald from the start shows what he can do with a guitar. Bouncy melodies on tracks such as Gold And Green that have an old school vibe to them and then the slowed down moods of songs such as Phoenix show next to one another the breadth of the sounds Ewald can create and it makes for an incredible listen.

Ewald wrote this record thinking outside of the box writing wise and decided to move the focus off of himself, stitching together a loose narrative surrounding a motley cast of characters, creating the people of Slaughter Beach and the writing purveys these characters in high definition. Telling stories through writing is a difficult thing, yet, Jake Ewald can make a whole album about his own fictional town, with emotions and flaws and realism.

It’s hard to believe this album was created out of writer’s block when it has been written with such a vivid picture of the people that Ewald has created, the writing is honest and thought provoking and combined with these melodies, this album is certainly something that needs to be listened to multiple times to really take it in. Tracks that stand out to me on this record are Buttercup, Fish Fry and Gold And Green. It’s weird but it’s really good.

8.5/10.

Review: Modern Baseball – The Perfect Cast EP.

I really like Modern Baseball, live they impressed me, and as we wait for new album, Holy Ghost which is likely to come out next year, the band released a surprise EP through Lame-O Records on Friday, which you can give a listen through the Alternative Press website right now.

Bringing their own unique way to melodies from the start of the EP but with a more fuzzy sound to this record, the band create a unique thing for them here on The Perfect Cast – it’s that Modern Baseball acoustic sound with a production that gives the EP an edge that works so well here, particularly on The Waterboy Returns and …And Beyond.

Luken’s vocals on this EP are still awesome, he has a unique vocal that really set this band apart, and working with the sound this band create here it does sound great, it’s not particularly new, but it does sound awesome. The choruses are huge of course and easy to pick up, The Revenge Of The Nameless Ranger, keeps it simple with the hook but the melodies work brilliantly, you can almost forgive for this lack of creativity.

Modern Baseball bring us a surprise EP, but it does lack surprises, but it does sound awesome and the songs are just what Modern Baseball do best, it sounds like a transition record between albums and may have some clues as to the direction of the new album, if so I’m not that worried. Highlights for me on this are The Revenge Of The Nameless Ranger, Infinity Exposed and …And Beyond – I look forward to Holy Ghost if this is a taste of what’s to come, live this will be great, as they cross the US soon with PUP and Tiny Moving Parts.

7.5/10.